Schmidt was “particularly freaked out about the potential damage that a combination of facial recognition and mobile tracking can do,” to quote All Things Digital's Peter Kafka. In late March, Google denied a report by Time's Techland blog that it was developing a facial recognition app that would allow a consumer to take a photo of someone, match that photo to their Google profile, then receive that person's contact information.

Schmidt was wise to decide that facial recognition technology is a bridge too far for consumers, especially considering that the company's monitoring of mobile devices doesn't sit well with some. Think of the consumer and media outrage that would have occurred if Google had released a facial recognition app around the time that its executives were defending the company's privacy policies on Capitol Hill. Schmidt and his colleagues on Google's management team made a good decision to punt that outrage at least a few years down the road.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in any form without prior authorization.
Your use of this website constitutes acceptance of Haymarket Media's Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions